I just hate Chinese 成语. These are four character idioms that are a feature of the Chinese language. No, I take that back actually, a lot of them are used in Japanese, but are called something different 「四字熟語」.
The infuriating part is that they are used so differently to English idioms. It seems to me that English idioms are just “picked up”, where Chinese idioms have to be studied laboriously. English idioms seem to come from everyday vocab, where Chinese idioms sometimes feature words and readings that no one uses any more, outside that one specific circumstance.
Anyway, just taking time out from memorising pages of these bloody things to moan a bit about it.
Here’s the really hard thing about translating. I’m trying to turn this into English:
我终于发现昆明城市管理者队员的武功其实远未到炉火纯青的地步
This is the most accurate I can get it:
I finally saw that the martial arts of Kunming’s City Inspectors are actually at a level far from forged-in-the-fire perfection.
But that’s a little cumbersome isn’t it? Maybe I can clean it up a bit.
I finally saw how far the kungfu skills of Kunming’s Chengguan are from perfection
The second sounds and reads better, but is differs a little from the original. I’ve translated 武功 as “Kungfu” which isn’t correct, but is shorter, and slicker than “Martial Arts” which would be correct. I’ve also taken out some words so that it flows more (noticeably the four character Chengyu which doesn’t translate well anyway). This might not seem a big deal in the short sentence above, but makes a big difference when reading an entire article.
So I’m always in a quandry. The first translation preserves the meaning of each word, but the flow of the Chinese is lost; the second one takes out words but doesn’t sound as awkward.
Looking at his annoyed daughter walking in front of him, Zong Longjiang, walking behind her, comforted her quietly, saying:
But isn’t that a little stupid? If his daughter is walking in front of him, obviously he’s walking behind her, right? How about this:
Looking at his annoyed daughter walking in front of him, Zong Longjiang comforted her quietly, saying:
Better right? But the redundant phrase 走在后面的/walking behind is in fact in the original. It sounds just as awkward in Chinese too. So what’s a translator to do? Seriously, should I fix things I think are wrong or awkward when I’m writing the translation? Or leave them?
Ashfield is one of the most multicultural areas of Sydney. It’s like being back in Shanghai! About 80% of the shops here are run by Mandarin speaking Chinese, and about 90% of THOSE are run by Shanghainese! So I still get the opportunity to speak a few words of Shanghainese whenever I go into a shop.
This afternoon I finished the final teaching practical of my CELTA course. All I have to do is turn up until the end of the week and I’ll be a certified Teacher of English Language to Adults.
I’m not sure how I feel… I’m relieved that it’s over, but intend to find a job doing exactly the same thing so it’s not as if it’s all over. And it’s not like I didn’t enjoy teaching too. It was just the assessment and the little piece of paper that I’d receive after each practical, grading and judging everything I did, that was so stressful.
Aika and I were in Chatswood, a suburb of northern Sydney today. Aika noticed that there were a lot of Korean being spoken.
“Is this Korea town?” she asked.
“Well… yeah I guess.”
“But how about Strathfield?”
“Well, yeah… Strathfield is the main Korea town, but I guess Chatswood is another Korea town.”
“And Ashfield?”
“Well… there are some Korean shops there but I think Ashfield is more of a Chinatown.”
“I thought Chinatown was in the city.”
“Well, yes… the place called “Chinatown” is in the city, but Ashfield is a place with a lot of Chinese shops… I guess if you wanted to be specific, Ashfield is Shanghai-town, and Chinatown is Chinatown.”
I think it’s great that we have these little language isolates in Sydney, and that we don’t just have one Koreatown but several. Unfortunately some idiots think that this is a bad thing, and have formed an anti immigration party, but I am sure that they will go the same way as all of our other anti immigration parties, and fade away when everyone realises how stupid they are.
Just a short message to let everyone that I’m still here!
안녕. 걱정 하지마.
まだいるよ。
还活着。
I haven’t written/YouTubed in a while, for which I’m feeling a little guilty, which is why I’m writing now.
At the moment, I’m looking for a job, and researching a uni degree that will allow me to teach English properly, and in Sydney. I taught lots while I was in China, but to do so here I’ll need some sort of qualification.
I’m also getting interested in wealth management; if Aika and I are ever going to go and visit all you 한국사람 again, drop in at 中国, get some real good すし or ever hope to get our Svenska past “Hej!” we’ll have to save up quite a lot of money for plane tickets.
The business world has a whole language of its own too. “ASX” means “Australian Stock Exchange”, “volumes were down” means that “not many people were trading shares”, “rally” means “to go up”, “slump” means “to go down”… sometimes I think they’re deliberately being difficult, by not using word that everyone understands…
One of the things I love doing is poking around art galleries. There’s something very peaceful about wandering around a quiet room, looking at stuff and evaluating it.
As I mention in the video, I recently went to see “Intensely Dutch” at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (New South Wales is the state in which I live; Sydney is the capital. No one knows why it has such a dumb name.)
A lot of the small art galleries I’ve been to feature only one artist; he/she sets up a shop to try and sell her stuff. I’ve seen lots of art that I like, and have always wondered about buying a painting or drawing or something. But one question, the big question, has always had me stumped.
How much?
Obviously there are no price tags on any art anywhere. You’re expected to look at it, and come up with a price yourself. But what’s reasonable? I mean, if I offer an artist twenty bucks for his painting is he going to be insulted? Or is he going to take it as a compliment that I’m looking to purchase his stuff.
Seriously, I’m not trying to be funny. If someone has done a sketch that has taken him all of half an hour to do, is it at all within the realms of possibility that he’d say “yeah, you can have it for twenty, do u need a bag for it?”
I’m not looking at starting an art collection (but depending on how cheap everyone thinks I can buy art for, I might!); I’ve just wondered the answer to this question for a while.
And it’s not as if artists have a brochure with price tags on it. (Or is it? As far as I know that is the case.)
